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Question Wattage pick for longevity

W

WillekeurigeKnoflookNL

Junior Member
I'm about to buy a new gaming system and would like to get a solid PSU with it.

I recently figured out that most of the ATX PSUs are most efficient while load is around 50%. Assuming *cough* the PSU will last the longest if it ever only gets to output around 50% of it's rated capacity, I could calculate the total power draw of the system during gaming and then double this amount to get a wattage number for a PSU that would basically always run at 50%, give or take a few %.

Is this a good approach to picking a PSU?
Does this make sence or is this wrong? Or badly explained?
 
Welcome.

This approach is reasonable, but as predicted load/2x capacity increase you'll probably have excessive headroom.
 
It's a reasonable start, but not enough. Pick one with high quality capacitors, usually solid or japanese branded at least on the output filtering, and often reflected by having the longest warranty period that major manufacturer offers. There's more to it, but I'm not going to write an essay for every forum post that asks the same question over again. A web search will find more info.
 
Currently running a PC Power & Cooling Turbo-Cool 1200.

I've had it running my PC since January 2013. (13 + years on the same power supply.)
 
WillekeurigeKnoflookNL said:
I'm about to buy a new gaming system and would like to get a solid PSU with it.

I recently figured out that most of the ATX PSUs are most efficient while load is around 50%. Assuming *cough* the PSU will last the longest if it ever only gets to output around 50% of it's rated capacity, I could calculate the total power draw of the system during gaming and then double this amount to get a wattage number for a PSU that would basically always run at 50%, give or take a few %.

Is this a good approach to picking a PSU?
Does this make sence or is this wrong? Or badly explained?
Click to expand...

Its an OK approach, however i would look at class psu more, like is it a bronze, gold, platinum or titanium rated psu.

The higher the ladder you get past gold, the more efficient it is anywhere from 30-80% on load, Anything higher then the PSU starts putting out insane amounts of heat. But after gold and into the platinum / titanium catigory, the efficiency raiting starts climbing up to around 80% or higher, that is why these psu's cost so much. Also i would not trust made in china psu's, unless its made in Taiwan.

I also would not touch a Gigabyte, ASUS or a MSI PSU even if one was given to me for free. Go with the trusted brands like Seasonic, Corsair, eVGA, FSP Group, Superflower, ETASIS which silverstone uses. I would avoid the other including some of the new case manufactor ones like bequiet, and even take lian li's with a grain of salt as that is made by Helly a Chinese company.
 
aigomorla said:
I also would not touch a Gigabyte, ASUS or a MSI PSU even if one was given to me for free. Go with the trusted brands like Seasonic, Corsair, eVGA, FSP Group, Superflower, ETASIS which silverstone uses. I would avoid the other including some of the new case manufactor ones like bequiet, and even take lian li's with a grain of salt as that is made by Helly a Chinese company.
Click to expand...
You can make make up for the lower quality by using it lot lower loadthan you would otherwise.
WillekeurigeKnoflookNL said:
Is this a good approach to picking a PSU?
Does this make sence or is this wrong? Or badly explained?
Click to expand...
It depends on what you are looking for. If you just want "efficiency", sure that makes sense. But in terms of longevity, the lower you go the better it is. So 50% load is better than 100%. But 25% is better than 50%.

Particularly with certain shady vendors they tend to pick components with max ratings very close to the max advertised ratings of the device itself. I know when I bought a broken ebike, I opened up the circuit to find out the transistors failed. The battery runs at 42V max but the transistors were rated at 48V. Way too close. Wasn't surprised to find that it failed. But let's say the battery was instead 26V, it might have been fine.

And make sure it doesn't run too hot.

I know regardless of what the CPU/GPU manufacturers say ALL semiconductors should run at 70C max for long-term(7+ years) reliable operation. Beyond that you get micro-errors, like reduced stability and unable to clock more than rated speeds.
 
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